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Doctor Who Unbound: The First Doctor #1
Doctor Who: Knights of the Round TARDIS
Thirteenth Century Oxford – courtly love, jousting knights and a golden age of Academia. What a treat for the Doctor and his companions! A chance to meet precursor of English democracy Simon de Montfort, as well as scientist, visionary and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon – a man truly ahead of his time.
Truly ahead of his time. If the TARDIS team can’t stop him, this time-meddling wolf in Monk’s clothing will alter the course of Earth’s history.
Truly ahead of his time. If the TARDIS team can’t stop him, this time-meddling wolf in Monk’s clothing will alter the course of Earth’s history.
- GenresDoctor WhoAudiobook
Audio CD
First published September 2, 2025
13 people want to read
About the author
L.R. Hay
6 books12 followersLynn Robertson Hay's writing covers books, TV, film, audio and theatre, including winning a Writers' Guild award.
Her screenplay BRAVE THE DARK stars Jared Harris (CHERNOBYL, THE CROWN etc) and Nicholas Hamilton (IT, and so on) and opened in theaters in January 2025.
Lynn is thrilled to have entered the Whoniverse with two stories for Big Finish, and wrote a very different kind of doctor in TV soap DOCTORS on BBC1.
She is also one of the world record-holding writers on crowd-created feature film THE IMPACT.
Lynn was a quarterfinalist in the Academy's prestigious Nicholl Fellowship (yes, *that* Academy), from 6,400 screenplays worldwide and came 3rd at LA Femme and 8th in Steven Knight's Midlands Writers competition.
Join her mailing list to be kept up-to-date with books, films and Doctor Who audios!
https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/form...
Lynn is also an actor, and has played parts ranging from Lady Macbeth to Mole and Puck to Miss Prism. Within the last few years she’s been seen wielding a rolling pin as Flo Capp in ANDY CAPP - THE MUSICAL, made her West End debut understudying the mighty Stockard Channing in APOLOGIA and going on in that amazing lead role 8 times, and appeared in season 3 of crime drama UNFORGOTTEN for ITV.
One-woman show REDEEMING FEATURES has played a variety of venues in the UK, US and elsewhere - tents, shopping malls, ornate Victorian theatres, cafes, streets, a 10th birthday party, an 85th birthday party, a swish Swiss hotel that inspired Disney, Kipling and Scott Fitzgerald, and the only part of Glastonbury Abbey still standing (not her fault).
Lynn's claim to fame is that she once won an episode of TV quiz show FIFTEEN TO ONE.
Her screenplay BRAVE THE DARK stars Jared Harris (CHERNOBYL, THE CROWN etc) and Nicholas Hamilton (IT, and so on) and opened in theaters in January 2025.
Lynn is thrilled to have entered the Whoniverse with two stories for Big Finish, and wrote a very different kind of doctor in TV soap DOCTORS on BBC1.
She is also one of the world record-holding writers on crowd-created feature film THE IMPACT.
Lynn was a quarterfinalist in the Academy's prestigious Nicholl Fellowship (yes, *that* Academy), from 6,400 screenplays worldwide and came 3rd at LA Femme and 8th in Steven Knight's Midlands Writers competition.
Join her mailing list to be kept up-to-date with books, films and Doctor Who audios!
https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/form...
Lynn is also an actor, and has played parts ranging from Lady Macbeth to Mole and Puck to Miss Prism. Within the last few years she’s been seen wielding a rolling pin as Flo Capp in ANDY CAPP - THE MUSICAL, made her West End debut understudying the mighty Stockard Channing in APOLOGIA and going on in that amazing lead role 8 times, and appeared in season 3 of crime drama UNFORGOTTEN for ITV.
One-woman show REDEEMING FEATURES has played a variety of venues in the UK, US and elsewhere - tents, shopping malls, ornate Victorian theatres, cafes, streets, a 10th birthday party, an 85th birthday party, a swish Swiss hotel that inspired Disney, Kipling and Scott Fitzgerald, and the only part of Glastonbury Abbey still standing (not her fault).
Lynn's claim to fame is that she once won an episode of TV quiz show FIFTEEN TO ONE.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 29, 2025
It’s been over four years since David Bradley’s alternate version of the 1st Doctor last made its way onto Big Finish. A series of highly rated audios, they starred a totally recast TARDIS team from the very first season of Doctor Who, but after five boxsets, it was cut from the line-up in readiness for a new set of regular releases in line with every other classic Doctor range.
A personal favourite of mine, I was in no small part disappointed by the news, as the series had successfully captured the essence of Hartnell’s early seasons, whilst managing to tell new and interesting adventures. Imagine my delight, then, when Big Finish announced last year that this range would be returning as part of a new series of Unbound adventures.
Knights of the Round TARDIS by LR Hay presents the start to this TARDIS team’s new unbound era with a 2, 50-minute part historical adventure set around The Monk’s meddling with Simon de Montfort and the Second Barons’ War.
The first part of the story sets a good pace for the adventure. Its 50-minute runtime allows team TARDIS the breathing space to settle into their 13th-century surroundings while deepening the mystery, as each member in turn comes to discover that Roger Bacon might not be who he says he is.
Where the episode shines, however, is with its characters. Hay’s re-introduction of the recast version of The Doctor (David Bradley), Ian (Jamie Glover), Barbara (Jemma Powell) and Susan (Claudia Grant) ensures that they’ve kept all the chemistry that they had from their original run. David Bradley, especially, is a tour de force during this story, delivering quips and jabs at record pace. Moreover, Keith Wickham’s performance as the new Meddling Monk makes for a great addition to the roster. His portrayal easily stands alongside Rufus Hound’s more jokey version of the twisted Time Lord, with an interpretation closer to the original. With Wickham’s portrayal, there’s more of a sly cunning about his Monk that works well with Bradley’s sharper 1st Doctor.
Unfortunately, the story’s second part never quite matches the strengths of the first. While still a good episode overall, the story fumbles the believability of de Montfort’s change in motivations and decision to join The Doctor and correct history. I found it hard to believe that de Montfort would be swayed so easily to go to his death by a mere history (or in this case, futurology) lesson, given his lordly and prideful personality. It lacked depth and needed a little more conflict on behalf of de Montfort to sell this change.
Despite these issues, the interactions between The Doctor and The Monk during the episode are great. The bad blood developed between them during this story offers plenty of leeway for fun future appearances.
LR Hays’ Knights of the Round TARDIS offers a great introduction for the 1st Doctor’s new unbound series. Set within an interesting historical setting, the story shines with the characterisation and chemistry of its main cast and villain. I, for one, can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next!
A personal favourite of mine, I was in no small part disappointed by the news, as the series had successfully captured the essence of Hartnell’s early seasons, whilst managing to tell new and interesting adventures. Imagine my delight, then, when Big Finish announced last year that this range would be returning as part of a new series of Unbound adventures.
Knights of the Round TARDIS by LR Hay presents the start to this TARDIS team’s new unbound era with a 2, 50-minute part historical adventure set around The Monk’s meddling with Simon de Montfort and the Second Barons’ War.
The first part of the story sets a good pace for the adventure. Its 50-minute runtime allows team TARDIS the breathing space to settle into their 13th-century surroundings while deepening the mystery, as each member in turn comes to discover that Roger Bacon might not be who he says he is.
Where the episode shines, however, is with its characters. Hay’s re-introduction of the recast version of The Doctor (David Bradley), Ian (Jamie Glover), Barbara (Jemma Powell) and Susan (Claudia Grant) ensures that they’ve kept all the chemistry that they had from their original run. David Bradley, especially, is a tour de force during this story, delivering quips and jabs at record pace. Moreover, Keith Wickham’s performance as the new Meddling Monk makes for a great addition to the roster. His portrayal easily stands alongside Rufus Hound’s more jokey version of the twisted Time Lord, with an interpretation closer to the original. With Wickham’s portrayal, there’s more of a sly cunning about his Monk that works well with Bradley’s sharper 1st Doctor.
Unfortunately, the story’s second part never quite matches the strengths of the first. While still a good episode overall, the story fumbles the believability of de Montfort’s change in motivations and decision to join The Doctor and correct history. I found it hard to believe that de Montfort would be swayed so easily to go to his death by a mere history (or in this case, futurology) lesson, given his lordly and prideful personality. It lacked depth and needed a little more conflict on behalf of de Montfort to sell this change.
Despite these issues, the interactions between The Doctor and The Monk during the episode are great. The bad blood developed between them during this story offers plenty of leeway for fun future appearances.
LR Hays’ Knights of the Round TARDIS offers a great introduction for the 1st Doctor’s new unbound series. Set within an interesting historical setting, the story shines with the characterisation and chemistry of its main cast and villain. I, for one, can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
What... What was this?
A few good things first, there are some great feats of continuity and it's an interesting placement in the Doctor's and the Monk's respective timelines. The cast are also all great as well, and also features SJA alumni, Joseph Milton - And I'm always happy to hear or see David Bradley in anything.
But on the other hand, Susan is a massively out of character whiny brat, and the story itself is pretty bland and doesn't go far enough to justify itself as an 'Unbound' adventure (most of this is crammed into the last 2 minutes).
I also find it bizarre how the Doctor just carelessly and wildly brings future technology to the medieval times, and the TARDIS crew in general just tell De Montefort he has to lose his battle and die for the sake of history? What on Earth is going on here? Whatever happened to the Web of Time? Also, Susan and Barbara swoon over De Montefort every other scene, which was just weird.
I struggle to see what the point of this story was. The moral ultimately seemed to be something about how parliament and government are actually good things which will last for eternity? There's no apparent way to find out what the writer's intentions were since there are no behind the scenes interviews included.
Still, I have higher hopes for the next Unbound First Doctor based on the ending of this one... Shame we have to wait a year.
A few good things first, there are some great feats of continuity and it's an interesting placement in the Doctor's and the Monk's respective timelines. The cast are also all great as well, and also features SJA alumni, Joseph Milton - And I'm always happy to hear or see David Bradley in anything.
But on the other hand, Susan is a massively out of character whiny brat, and the story itself is pretty bland and doesn't go far enough to justify itself as an 'Unbound' adventure (most of this is crammed into the last 2 minutes).
I also find it bizarre how the Doctor just carelessly and wildly brings future technology to the medieval times, and the TARDIS crew in general just tell De Montefort he has to lose his battle and die for the sake of history? What on Earth is going on here? Whatever happened to the Web of Time? Also, Susan and Barbara swoon over De Montefort every other scene, which was just weird.
I struggle to see what the point of this story was. The moral ultimately seemed to be something about how parliament and government are actually good things which will last for eternity? There's no apparent way to find out what the writer's intentions were since there are no behind the scenes interviews included.
Still, I have higher hopes for the next Unbound First Doctor based on the ending of this one... Shame we have to wait a year.
September 4, 2025
I'll be honest, medieval history sort of blends into one for me. So it was nice to learn something new from this period of time. It's your typical Meddling Monk story where he attempts to change history, but again, it's a fun outing. Just nothing mind-blowing.
The historical figures are handled well, especially Simon De Montford, who has both a positive legacy when it comes to Democracy but also a very dark side with his bigotry. Yet when you compare him to the King that he opposed and the one previously, they all shared similar views sadly prevalent at the time.
The other historical figure, Roger Bacon, is used very cleverly within the confines of the plot.
Overall, it's a fun story, and I look forward to seeing where these new David Bradley First Doctor Adventures go.
The historical figures are handled well, especially Simon De Montford, who has both a positive legacy when it comes to Democracy but also a very dark side with his bigotry. Yet when you compare him to the King that he opposed and the one previously, they all shared similar views sadly prevalent at the time.
The other historical figure, Roger Bacon, is used very cleverly within the confines of the plot.
Overall, it's a fun story, and I look forward to seeing where these new David Bradley First Doctor Adventures go.
September 12, 2025
I'm not really sure that this does a whole lot to justify being an Unbound story. I wouldn't have picked up on this being tonally inspired by the Peter Cushing films had I not read the press release beforehand. This doesn't even come with any behind the scenes recording, so it might be lost on other listeners.
October 18, 2025
A fun romp in a warped encounter with the Meddling Monk. This is not how we have seen The (First) Doctor meeting the Meddling Monk in the events depicted in series The Time Meddler. And it kick-offs a whole new
Unbound
timeline where everything we think we know is wrong. This looks like it’s going to be a wild, wild ride.
September 23, 2025
Really enjoyed this. Can't wait to be on Marinus.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2025
I positively adore The Monk.
November 17, 2025
I won’t lie, I still don’t entirely get why they’re making the Bradley releases Unbound now. I enjoy this range so to see it get sidelined from where it originated from is a bit confusing.
The Doctor thinks he’s cracked it at last. He’s taking Ian and Barbara home. But when they arrive in medieval England it seems he’s miscalculated again. A future enemy of The Doctors here and he’s hellbent on getting his revenge, but it’s about to get messy.
L.R has written a terrific historical that is funny, political and emotional. An incarnation of The Monk meeting a Doctor he hasn’t met yet suits his character wonderfully and the writing for him is top notch and hilarious.
Overall: I really enjoyed hearing this cast again and I I’m excited to find out what happens in the next story. 8/10
The Doctor thinks he’s cracked it at last. He’s taking Ian and Barbara home. But when they arrive in medieval England it seems he’s miscalculated again. A future enemy of The Doctors here and he’s hellbent on getting his revenge, but it’s about to get messy.
L.R has written a terrific historical that is funny, political and emotional. An incarnation of The Monk meeting a Doctor he hasn’t met yet suits his character wonderfully and the writing for him is top notch and hilarious.
Overall: I really enjoyed hearing this cast again and I I’m excited to find out what happens in the next story. 8/10
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews